The side altar of St Sebastian in the Collegiate Church in Rein
Type
Side altar
Dimensions
Height: 150 cm
Critical History
The Sebastian altar may be considered as the equivalent of the Narcissus altar. According to Horst Schweigert, the auxiliary sculptures of Donatus (left) and Florian (right) are attributed to Philipp Jakob Straub.1 In direct comparison it becomes evident, that their expressions are slightly more withdrawn and the attributes are designed more unpretentiously.
Construction / Execution
Both sculptures are made of carved wood and are hollowed out deeply.
Components
Carpentry
Completed: 1742 – 1743
Technique(s): sawing
Material(s): wood
Sculpture
St Donatus and St Florian
Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
Completed: 1742 – 1743
Technique(s): wood carving
Material(s): wood
Polychromy
Sculptures
Completed: 1742 – 1743
Material(s): gold leaf, red bole
Comment
The Sebastian altar was gilded in 1762 by Franziskus Reich (as all the other altars within the church, except the Narcissus altar).2
Conservation-restoration
2014
Strategy: removing dirt
Treatment Description
In terms of the construction and composition, the Sebastian altar can be regarded as counterpart to the Narcissus altar, but there were significant differences in the state of the colouring which was due to the different restoration phases before the restoration in 2014. The gilding was extremely shiny, but strongly reduced (maybe repolished in the course of the former restoration work in 1979), the colouring showed an unevenly revision. Furthermore there were smaller defects (broken fingers, loose parts, partial follow-up gilding). The aims of the last restoration in 2014 were the removal of the contemporary wax coating as well as the conservation of the altar (aesthetic corrections in the damaged and supplemented areas) to achieve a harmoniously overall appearance.3
Images
Side altar (Sebastian-Altar) in the collegiate church in Rein (photo by Elisabeth Brenner, 2014)
The statue of St Florian (photo by Elisabeth Brenner, 2014)
The statue of St Donatus (photo by Elisabeth Brenner, 2014)
Catalogue entry prepared by Eva Klein and Christina Pichler
Recommended citation: Eva Klein and Christina Pichler, The side altar of St Sebastian in the Collegiate Church in Rein, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 26/01/2026) URL
Sources and Bibliography
Kurt Woisetschläger, Das Kunstschaffen im Bereich des Klosters Rein, in: Stift Rein 1129– 1979. 850 Jahre Kultur und Glaube. Festschrift zum Jubiläum, Abt Paulus Rappold (ed.), Rein, 1979, 77–101
Horst Schweigert, Philipp Jakob Straub 1706 – 1774. Ein Grazer Barockbildhauer. Eine Broschüre zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung im Grazer Stadtmuseum, Graz, 1992
Archive of the Collegiate Abbey of Rein, The restoration of the Sebastian altar in the collegiate church of Rein, 2018
